There’s no better way to understand how East could meet West than by visiting Yongfoo Elite, an 18-year-old club-restaurant in the heart of Shanghai’s former French Concession.
Tucked away on a winding street in the former residence of the British consul general, Yongfoo Elite became the preferred hangout spot for fashion insiders and cultural elites in its early days.
Its era-clashing courtyard is made up of a Chinese-styled garden, a contemporary glass house and a ’30s Spanish-styled house. One is teleported to a scene in an Eileen Chang novel, or perhaps a Wang Kar-wai film set.
The storied location has appeared in glossy magazines and served as a backdrop for the Pirelli calendar in 2008.
Yongfoo Elite is the brainchild of Xingzheng Wang, a 69-year-old Shanghai local who gained success as one of the country’s first menswear designers in the ’80s. His brand Sha-Er-Wei, later Jun Long, became one of